Could Be Worse, Could Be Raining

There’s a famous scene in the movie “Young Frankenstein” that finds Dr. Frankenstein and Igor in the graveyard late at night digging up dead bodies to use in their experiments. As they chuck the coffin out of the hole, the demented doctor says, “What a filthy job.” His humpbacked assistant tries to look on the bright side. “Could be worse. Could be raining.” At this point, the skies open up and drench the duo. It is worse. It is indeed as bad as it could be. Flip over to Ezra 10:9-11 and we see another hard day made worse by hard rain. Ezra gathers every Jewish man in the temple courts to confront them for their sexual sin. If you listen closely, you might hear one of them whisper to their buddy, “Could be worse. Could be raining.” Suddenly the skies open up and drench the dudes. You might want to grab your umbrella. It’s a hard day made worse by hard rain.

So just how did we end up here? What happened that led to several thousand people called onto the carpet and standing in the rain? It’s approximately 460 years before the birth of Jesus. God has just orchestrated the return of His chosen people to the Promised Land from captivity in Babylon under the leadership of men like Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and Ezra. Call it the Exodus 2.0. After a few fits and starts, they’ve rebuilt the temple that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed and resettled the area once known as the southern kingdom of Judah. 

Things are looking up, right? Things are on a roll, right? You would think so, but what should be a time of celebration is suddenly a total train wreck. Ezra gets the news that Jewish men are shacking up with local unbelieving women (Ez 9:1-3). And we’re not just talking a handful of horny Hebrews. Early reports reveal that this includes not just a few average Joes but many of the priests and Levites as well. Hearing the horrible news, Ezra falls on his knees at the front steps of the rebuilt temple and prays to God on their behalf (Ez 9:5-15). At the end of his public prayer, a brave man named Shecaniah steps out of the crowd and encourages Ezra to do what he must do (Ez 10:2-4). The people need a strong leader to rise up when the chips are down. Shecaniah and the people tell the Big E that they have his back. Ezra steps into a storage room inside the temple to fast and pray for God’s guidance (Ez 10:6). In the meantime, the announcement is made that everyone has three days to get their carcass to Jerusalem for a mandatory family meeting (Ez 10:7-8). Be there or be square.

Seventy-two hours later, everybody was there. “Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within thee days” (v9). It’s hard to figure an estimate of the crowd. Almost 50,000 people returned with Zerubbabel during the first resettlement 60 years ago (Ez 2:64-65). Approximately 7,000-8,000 folks made the trip from Babylon to Jerusalem under Ezra just a few months back (Ez 8:1-14). The language in this passage seems to indicate that everybody was in attendance, not just the men. So it’s not hard to put the crowd somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000. But the important number is 100%. Everybody was there.

We see that it’s “ninth month, on the twentieth day” (v9). That means it’s Kislev which falls during our November and December. That’s in the heart of the rainy season when the city gets an average of 4 inches of precipitation. It’s also the coldest months of the year with an average high of 57 degrees (F) and average low of 47. So why is it important to get the latest from the WeatherCenter? Because it suddenly began to rain on the big crowd. They “sat in the open square before the house of God” (v9). There’s no place big enough for an assembly that size to meet inside. Ezra tells us that the crowd was shivering. For a couple of reasons. They were “trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain” (v9). The audience knows that the high priest is about to make a very difficult announcement. Their trembling actually began a few days back when he first got word of this mess (Ez 9:4). He’s going to deliver the bad news on the sexual sin that runs rampant in God’s people. Could be worse. Could be raining. Well, that’s exactly what happens. Not just a little shower. “Heavy rain” (v9). It’s probably in the mid 50s. It’s raining cats and dogs. It’s a cold, hard rain. Not to mention that the elevation of Jerusalem is 2,500 feet above sea level. And you’ve been called into the principal’s office. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I would be shaking in my boots too.

For the first time since this controversy has hit the papers, Ezra speaks publicly (v10-11). Earlier, he didn’t make any public statements to the people. He did pray out loud on their behalf. But he’s yet to make any public comment. Instead he’s prayed. What a great lesson in leadership! The people see and hear their high priest confess their disobedience and rebellion at the temple steps. Then he spends signifiant time alone in fasting and prayer seeking God’s guidance before ever talking to the nation. How much better would my communication be if I talked to God before opening my big yapper? 

With the cold, hard rain pounding the crowd, Ezra opens his mouth. “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel” (v10). He really didn’t need to go into gory detail. The ugly accusation has already been stated publicly several times (Ez 9:1-2, 6-7, 10-15; 10:2). They’ve “broken faith” (v10). Once again we see the Hebrew word ma’al. This means to fail to trust in the goodness and grace of God. They took matters into their own hands and took their pagan girlfriends to bed. As in verse 2, the term for “marriage” isn’t the usual word in the original language. This describes taking someone into your home. It tells us that these weren’t legit marriages but illicit relationships. I think the theological term here is “shacking up.” The result of listening to their libido instead of the LORD has “increased the guilt of Israel” (v10). God has forgiven the guilt of their sin that led to their Babylonian exile (Is 40:1-2). That’s seen in the divine stamp of approval on their return to the Promised Land (Ez 1:1, 5; 5:1; 6:14, 22; 7:6, 27-28; 8:18, 31). But their blatant sexual sin of hooking up with local pagan hotties is pegging Israel’s guilt meter.

Ezra gives these men two simple instructions. “Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do His will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives” (v11). Two points. I said it was simple. I did not say it was easy. Step one: “make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers” (v11). It’s interesting to note that the word here (Heb. towdah) can not only mean an admission of sin, but an act of praise, thanksgiving, or worship. You see, a rightful confession is an act of worship. We’re agreeing with God about who He is and who we are. He’s God and we’re not. The Bible is chockfull of the importance of confession and repentance. Solomon instructed his son, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Prov 28:13). God makes that same amazing promise through the Apostle John. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9). Be specific. Put it into words. Tell God what you’ve done. Tell Him that you agree with Him about your sin. Make confession.

Way back in the days of Moses, Yahweh made it clear that confession and repentance are the path to restoration of the relationship between He and His people. “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against Me, and also in walking contrary to Me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land” (Lev 26:40-42). That ties right into Ezra’s identification as “the LORD, the God of your fathers” (v11). The all-caps “LORD” is actually Yahweh, God’s first name that He revealed to the mighty Mo at the burning bush (Ex 3:14-15). It means I AM WHO I AM. I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. He’s the One who is always in the present tense. 

Yahweh represents God’s covenant name. It expresses His faithfulness and unending love that’s based on who He is and NOT who we are and what we do. God was incredibly faithful in His love to “your fathers” (v11). He’s talking about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God made a promise to bless the world through this grandfather, father, and son. It really had nothing to do with anything they did. As a matter of fact, these three men and their families aren’t exactly spiritual superstars. They’re more like a generational parade of failures, rebels, and rejects. But once again, God demonstrates His amazing ability to use losers  to spread His love to the world. He did it through Abraham and his family. And He’s still doing it today.

Meanwhile Ezra gives the people step two. “Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from the foreign wives” (v11). This is the very same word (Heb. badal) used when non-Jewish people broke away from the disgusting idol worship of their culture and bowed before the God of Israel (Ez 6:21). Ezra found out that the priests, Levites, and many Hebrews got themselves mixed up with local women and “not separated (Heb. badal) themselves from the people of the lands and their abominations” (Ez 9:1). If these dudes didn’t stop shacking up with the pagan hotties, they would find themselves “banned (Heb. badal) from the congregation” (Ez 10:8). Cut it out or get cut off.

Yeah, it was a hard day in the hard rain.